Printing presses are generally known which are in the structural form of printing towers, for example, which printing towers are typically used as rotary printing presses for printing newspapers. Several printing units are provided in these printing presses, so that different colors, or so that both the front and back of a print medium, for example, can be imprinted.
Operating units, by the use of which press operators can control each respective printing unit, are customarily installed in control cabinets, which control cabinets are provided for the individual printing presses for use in operating the individual printing units of each printing press. Customarily, graphic displays or run control boards are provided at these operating units and are used for showing defined parameters of the printing unit. Furthermore, input elements, such as, for example, alpha-numeric keyboards, are usually provided at these operating units for entering control data. So-called touch screens are also being increasingly employed for this purpose.
A disadvantage in connection with known printing presses lies in the large expenditures required for the operating units, since it is necessary to assign a separate operating unit to each individual printing unit. Moreover, the available control cabinet space is reduced by the requirement for operating units at each individual printing unit. The operation of the generally known, customary operating units is also not satisfactory from an ergonomic viewpoint, since the operating units are installed in fixed locations which fixed installations, in particular in connection with wide-format presses, makes more demanding operating steps, which require direct observation at the printing location difficult. Moreover, because of the arrangement and the placement of the operating units in the direct vicinity of the printing units, soiling of the operating units by printing ink often occurs. Also, EMC interferences with the electronic components of the operating units, because of the close proximity of the operating units to the main drive regulators, cannot be ruled out. In the course of removing parts of the printing unit, such as, for example, the ink rollers or the protective device of the inking units, there is also the danger of damage to the operating units which are installed in fixed locations.
DE 32 25 164 C2 discloses a printing press with several printing groups, which printing groups are independently controlled by a remote operating unit. The remote operating unit can selectively exchange data with various printing groups.
A control device for rotary printing presses is known from DE 92 15 547 U1. The printing groups are connected with a control console via a common data bus.
DE 299 18 654 U1 discloses an arrangement for the wireless transmission of signals between a printing press and a mobile computer unit.
DE 93 21 349 U1 shows a transportable operating unit for a printing press, on which operating unit graphic symbols are arranged.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,202,159 describes a printing tower with a lifting device for use by press operators. An operating device, for use in controlling the lifting device, is fastened on this lifting device.